'OC Housewife' RIPS TabloidI'm NOT Going Broke!

8/21/2011 4:30 AM PDT

Alexis Bellino from "Real Housewives of Orange County" is out for justice -- threatening a legal FIRESTORM ... after a tabloid rag claimed she was going broke.

It's all over an issue of In Touch Weekly that came out earlier this month -- the cover of which shows a picture of Alexis, over the caption "Bankrupt!" ... but it gets worse.

Inside the magazine, the article reads, "Bankrupt! Evicted! Foreclosed! Housewives Are Going Broke" -- continuing, "After selling off her home at a fraction of its cost to avoid foreclosure, Alexis Bellino still refuses to admit she and her husband ... have money troubles."

But Alexis claims it's all BS -- and her lawyer fired off a nasty cease and desist letter on Thursday, demanding In Touch retract its "patent, malicious, and libelous comments."

According to the letter, Alexis is "in great financial health" -- and if In Touch doesn't retract its comments ... she'll sue. So far, no word back from In Touch.